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Volunteer Firefighters Free Dog Trapped In Pipe For Nearly 24 Hours

A miniature long-haired dachshund named Khaleesi spent a fearful night stuck inside a pipe in Secaucus, New Jersey, before volunteer firefighters were able to free her on Sunday.

The rescue was caught on video and showed Khaleesi’s reunion with her tearful owner, Kristie Ann Ramos.

On Saturday, the dog was running in a park with Ramos’ husband, Emilio, when she chased a rabbit into a drain pipe, WNBC reported. About 56 inches into the pipe, the dog got stuck at a bend and was unable to back out.

Emilio Ramos knew where she was because the highly trained hunting dog wears a transmitter on her collar.

“Once I got near, I started hearing her bark,” he said. “After a while, that bark turned into a crying noise.”

Unable to coax Khaleesi out of the pipe on their own, the Ramoses called the Secaucus Fire Department, WCBS reported. Volunteer firefighters and rescue workers spent hours trying to free the dog, but they had to suspend their efforts when it got dark because they feared a retaining wall would collapse.

At 8 a.m. Sunday, the firefighters returned to the scene.

“I basically could not sleep,” Battalion Chief Joseph Schoendorf told WCBS. “I was tossing and turning last night thinking about the situation.”

Capt. Mark Mastorelli told WABC that the hardest part of the rescue was hearing the distressed dog.

“The dog was crying and whimpering while we were digging,” he said.

But all of their efforts were rewarded when they freed Khaleesi from the pipe, apparently unharmed.

The firefighters plan to block the opening to the pipe to prevent any similar mishaps.